On average, April 27th is the first day when the high temperature in
Nome rises above freezing, for the first time since October.

Although we’ve had a few days as warm as the +30’s this winter, we’re
still due a few more bitterly cold ones, and almost certainly more snow.

Still, we look forward to the eventual arrival of spring, and as we
do, we thank God for your faithful help and your prayers.

Thank you so much!

BOXING DAY: (left) With an extra
sprinkle of sand for good footing, KNOM’ers Ric Schmidt, Tim Bodony, Paul
Korchin and John Hall carry the new KNOM file server computer into
the studio building.

By mid-May, this 200-pound computer will control all of KNOM’s studio
audio.

The unit is part of an upgrade to our computerized studio system, necessary
because the company which builds it no longer supports older systems such
as the one KNOM has used since 1994.

Watch for more information in coming months!

You’ll notice that the crew’s mostly in shirtsleeves. March 28th,
the temperature was a mild +14°.

LONG DISTANCE CALLS: In March, a call-in program discussing
school discipline garnered calls from the Yup’ik village of Ekwok (EKK-wahk)
and from a satellite telephone along the Kvijack (KVEE-jack) River, about
500 miles southeast of Nome.
We are aware of regular listeners from as
distant as 800 miles away. Most of them live in extremely remote
points.
Thank you again for allowing us to provide
them an award-winning service of inspiration, education, news and companionship.

INSPIRATIONAL SPOT: When
we think we know what God wants for us, we plow ahead without seeking His
direction. We can try our hardest, use all our talents and resources,
but it means nothing without God’s guiding Hand. God’s way. God’s time, not mine.

INSPIRATIONAL SPOT: Resistance to prayer is like
the resistance of tightly clenched fists. These hands show tension,
a desire to cling to self, a greediness that betrays fear of change. Open your hands. Let go of resentment,
addiction, frustration, bitterness, or jealousy. Open your hands,
pray, and let the wounds in your life heal.

“WIRE” WE DOING
THIS? (left) KNOM engineer Les Brown begins to install
four of the new computers in a downstairs hallway equipment rack.

Note the temporary power wiring at right, keeping us on the air during
the work. Within a week, Les will have it neat and orderly.

(Left) Here's an image from the other side of the equipment rack,
as KNOM volunter Julia Arrotti checks out the first three computers to
be installed.

These racks front into KNOM's main downstairs hallway. Radio engineers
will recognize equipment in these three racks. The computer screen
and keyboard at left control our remote AM transmitter, on the tundra 3
miles east of Nome.

Other gear includes amplifiers that distribute audio signals throughout
the studios and our Associated Press satellite receiver.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Recent topics discussed
in KNOM newscasts, interviews and other programs include school administration,
the role of social workers, the history of Native music and dance, cultural
changes in villages, regional health inspections, and the phenomenal popularity
of basketball in rural Alaska.

Every week during the legislative session, KNOM interviews a member
of the Alaska State House or Senate on the many issues of interest to western
Alaska.

Thank you for making these important and informative programs possible.

“GAMBELL”-ING: Hats off to volunteers
Andrew McDonnell and Ryan Conarro, who covered the village of Gambell’s
spring festival at the end of March.

At the western tip of St. Lawrence Island (left), Gambell is 200 miles
from Nome and only 35 miles from Russia. You’ll hear KNOM in
its 153 homes all day.

Like their ancestors, the Eskimos of Gambell primarily feed their families
seal, fish, walrus, whale and eggs from sea birds.

Store-bought food is three to four times more expensive than in the
Lower 48. Ivory carving and other home-based Native art are the principal
occupations.

Few families have extra money, and according to the U.S. government,
half live in poverty.

INSPIRATIONAL SPOT: The greatest peace
I’ve ever known, I found in troubled times. For when I put my trust
in God, He eased my troubled mind.

Ric is one of four Nome individuals to be honored by the National
Guard for supporting their work in Alaska, both before and after September
11th.

The plaque is signed by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs
Craig Duehring.

Ric, who is also president of Nome’s Rotary Club, was presented the
award at one of the group’s weekly meetings in March.

ANOTHER AWARD (SORT OF): It’s
the closest we’ll ever get to an Academy Award.

Last year, when KNOM volunteer Ryan Conarro was a student at New
York University, he worked as an extra for the auditorium scene in “A Beautiful
Mind,” which won the Best Picture Oscar last month. If you know when
and where to look, you’ll catch Ryan in the movie for about two seconds.

According to Ryan, his mother missed the shot. At the very moment
Ryan was on the screen, she turned to his dad to mention that she hadn’t
seen him yet.

UP FOR THE COUNT: So far this year, KNOM
has broadcast approximately 14,100 inspirational spots, and an equal number
of educational ones, thanks to you.

Please remember missions like KNOM in your will.
Your gift can make an immense positive difference for many years into
the future.

INSPIRATIONAL SPOT: Love multiplies joy and divides
grief.

INSPIRATIONAL SPOT: Perhaps they are
not the stars, but rather openings in the heavens where the love of our
departed ones peer through and shine down upon us to let us know they are
happy. (inspired by an Eskimo legend)

THIRTY YEARS
AGO: In April 1972, KNOM provided a bit of
logistical help for a crew filming a Walt Disney movie in the Nome outskirts.

All of the actors were cast from Nome for the film, which was released
on television as “Two Against the Arctic” three years later. It featured
beautiful photography of springtime on the Alaskan tundra.

The plot? Two Eskimo children are accidentally left stranded on
an arctic beach while their father hunts on the ice. They overcome
many obstacles as they journey sixty miles to their village.

One of those obstacles was a polar bear. Rather than hire “a local,”
the company brought in Igloo, a trained polar bear from Seattle.

In one shot during the critical polar bear scene, producers stuck willow
branches in the snow to block the camera’s view of the KNOM tower.

(Left) KNOM volunteer JOHN HALL prepares
a newscast.

KNOM broadcasts local/regional newscasts 18 hours a day, most of them
recorded in this hardworking
newsroom.

WHAT A YOLK! Easter was gray and windy
with snow in the air, and KNOM’ers smiled to watch a hundred toddlers scrambling
on Nome’s tiny ice rink (a flooded lot), slipping and sliding, bumping
into each other, and having a wonderful time thanks to the town’s Veterans
of Foreign Wars.

It was so cold that the Easter Bunny had to wear a down vest.

We thank you once more for your prayers and your financial assistance.
You are our strength. Without you, our mission work would quickly
cease.

From all of us, we wish you a happy spring. We keep each of you
in our prayers. May God greatly bless you for your generosity.
Thank you again!